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User blog:Julia-B184/Civil War - Part Twelve
December 25, 2578 X-COM Headquarters, Mandalore A dozen X-COM operatives sat somberly in a semi-circle before a wall covered with pictures and memoirs. Next to it sat a wooden table draped in a Mandalorian banner, askew shot glasses and a combat knife laying on it. They'd been granted some time from practice and preparation for Jul, but they'd also set aside time to honor the dead. The memorial wall before them displayed pictures of missing operatives, civilian family, and Mandalorian soldiers. None of them spoke, but some of them had their heads bowed in silent prayer. Vera only had her eyes glued to the one picture they had of Eklund, when he was a few years younger and with his dog. She could only think about if she'd done something wrong, if there was any way for them to have kept him safe. And then there was their very first sniper, who had been lost on the first raid. She only remembered his name, Engstrom, and nothing else about him. She hated herself for it. As time passed, operatives began to stand up and leave the room, either from their believing the proper respects had been paid or it was just too painful to sit there any more. Vera was left as the last one sitting there, looking up in surprise when she felt Idun's hand on her shoulder. Looking up at her older sister, she wiped the tears from her eyes to hide that she'd been crying quietly to herself. "They should be up there." She managed to get out, choking on her sobs. "He should be up there." "Cyrus is ''up there, Vera." Idun said softly, pointing out the picture of Vera's late husband. "They haven't forgotten." "I wasn't talking about Cyrus." Vera began to shake and sniffle, crying more obviously now. "Hey, shh." Idun sat next to her sister, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her close. "It's okay. It's okay." '''Primary ADVENT Facility' Westerdal looked up from her computer screen when she heard a knock on the door to her office. "Come in." Elias Ren stepped inside the office, closing the door behind him. "You asked for me, General." "I won't waste any of your time." Westerdal clasped her hands together. "Svea Ren has discovered the location of the insurgent - they call themselves X-COM - headquarters. Kylo Ren has managed to get a detailed analysis on their defensive capabilities and what areas are essential." The general stood up from her seat, walking closer to the Baron. "We're dedicating at least four Knights of Ren to this attack. Your recent actions on the frontlines have convinced me to make you part of this." "What part, exactly, will I be taking?" Elias asked slowly. "You're going to be taking the mountain-based hangar of the base." Westerdal explained to him. "You will have the usual two Captains under your command, and more or less 80 troopers, perhaps stun lancers." She paused. "And seeing as you have shown an effective connection with a Lieutenant Nylund, she will be the shieldbearer." Elias felt some mixed feelings to the new announcement. It was true that he had come to trust Lieutenant Nylund ever since he'd offered condolences and some of his fortune with the death of her husband. However, part of him wanted to keep her away from the more dangerous mission in respect for Dante Nylund. He wouldn't be able to bring himself to say that, of course. She, like all the others, knew the risks when she'd enlisted. "Very well." He nodded in affirmation, and was about to continue until the door opened once again. Kylo Ren, followed by Svea and another strode into the room followed closely by Daniselsen. The latter was the only one who went out of his way to greet with pleasantries before he walked over to the hologlobe display of Mandalore in the center of the room. Pressing the key to zoom in drastically on the location of the X-COM base before being joined where he stood by Westerdal, addressing the Knights of Ren. "It's essential that we only attack the armed personnel." Daniselsen began. "I know it's a tedious action, and most of them will likely fight back regardless. However, we know by now that taking one wrong step will have severe political consequences. Basically, this attack will be far more important politically than militarily." "How so, exactly?" Svea asked, having an idea but not entirely sure. "Not only will we be showing our capability to defend the people of ADVENT from these underground threats, but we will also expose X-COM for what it is." Daniselsen explained. "Kylo Ren has reported that the organization was formed by the families of Orb to protect investments and warehouses with minimal care for our stability. Valuable as that is, it's not enough evidence to show the world. This base will be a gold mine of solid evidence." Westerdal continued for Daniselsen. "It'll give us at least some names of those involved, which will shatter the support of those on Mandalore and will let us know if we have any double agents in our own territory." She let this sink in for a moment. "This attack could be, essentially, the final real engagement of the war. We have a huge chance to end this now, make this a short war before anyone else decides to get involved." "Then, by all means, fill us in on the plan." Kylo leaned forward, gazing at the hologlobe. December 30, 2578 X-COM Headquarters Two Skyrangers waited side-by-side in the mountain-based hangar, several X-COM operatives loading up explosives and other essential gear for their raid on the research facility. Vera watched quietly, focused entirely on the process until she found herself approached by Qrow Branwen, who had a flask in hand and his sword on his back. "Is Bradford sending you with us?" Vera asked. "No, well, not immediately." Qrow took a short swig of the coffee that Bradford had forced him to replace the booze with and pocketed the flask. "With Bradford sending a dozen of you ahead first, he's keeping a third dropship on standby. Mostly in case you got more prisoners than you expected." "And you're going to be on it." Vera realized. "Yep." He stretched one of his arms. "I'm probably not gonna drop in unless things get loud." "Well..." The Major sighed. "Thanks for spotting the facility, at least." "No problem." Qrow shrugged it off and turned to leave, apparently going to talk with Bradford. Vera then began to head over to the Skyrangers, making sure that everything essential was loaded. She ensured that all operatives were accounted for and that everybody's gear was in shape before she found Bradford approaching, Qrow staying back by the ordnance racks. "Are you all ready for this, Arendal?" Bradford asked carefully. "Yes, sir." Vera nodded. "The operatives are eager to prove their worth to the Council." "And I'm sure you will." Bradford nodded his encouragement. "Still, be careful out there. Remember to-" "I know, Central. We've gone over the plan a hundred times." Vera smirked. "We'll get rid of the base, steal the research and come back with the scientists by the end of the night." "Alright. Remember, if-..." Bradford stopped himself. "Right. You all know the plan. Good luck to you." He saluted the operatives, which was promptly returned as the latter began to pile into the Skyrangers. Vera sat down slowly next to Idun and Merrik, the three new members of Red Team sitting across from them quietly. Now they had a close-range specialist accompanying their sniper due to the fact that they'd lost two already. Their sixth member was another heavy armed with a chaingun like Merrik, and Blue Team on the other Skyranger likely had about the same loadout, albeit they were carrying stun lances. She took several deep breaths to calm herself as she felt the Skyranger take off, finding comfort in the fact that Merrik and Idun were with her. Outside the Skyranger, Bradford and Qrow silently watched the dropships lift up and engage in full forward flight, swiftly leaving the mountain hangar and allowing the doors to close. The central officer sighed, looking to their third Skyranger and then to Qrow. "Get prepared yourself." He looked to Qrow's compact scythe. "It feel the same?" "Yeah, weight and balance is about the same." Qrow nodded. "Still kinda wish you'd waited to upgrade it, but I can't deny your engineers took decent care of it." "They've worked on more complex things, as needlessly complex as yours is already." Bradford joked before promptly turning and making his way back to mission control, checking that Qrow was getting on the Skyranger before allowing the lift's doors to close. Airspace West of X-COM Headquarters Elias stood at the open doors of the ADVENT dropship, holding onto the safety bar with one hand. Behind him, fully geared and prepared for an assault, were 10 troopers including Lieutenant Nylund. From their extreme height, he used a pair of electric binoculars to spot the X-COM base that they were approaching, setting them aside once he saw them. Turning to Nylund, who was preparing her rifle. "You prepared?" He asked, their comm channel blocking out the wind. "100%." Nylund answered, grabbing a safety rail once she'd loaded her weapon. Elias then broadcast to the rest of the pilots in the area. "Are all dropships ready for assault on the mountain hangar?" He waited for confirmation from each before turning back to look at the mountain. "Engage." Over the wind, they could hear the distinctive wails of TIE Interceptors as a group of three rapidly swooped down from the air wing. Each fired two missiles directly into the hangar doors and natural cover of the base before turning around and returning to their escort positions. The dropship then made a drastic course correction, angling down and heading straight for the hangar to drop off the troops. Elias looked behind him for reassurance, finding it at the sight of scores of ADVENT dropships and a wing of TIE interceptors. Seven dropships followed his own, as well as four interceptors escorting, as they approached the hangar to initiate their landing. Category:Blog posts